


Scolopendrphobia

by Twiona



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cuddling, Dialogue-Only, Draco Thinks It’s Weird, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Funny, Harry Has A Phobia, Humour, M/M, Nightmares, Post-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Voldemort is dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-24
Updated: 2018-06-24
Packaged: 2019-05-27 19:24:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15031580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twiona/pseuds/Twiona
Summary: Draco is struggling to live with himself after he was forced to use the Killing Curse during the war. Harry comforts him and shares his own experience with using the infamous spell.I don’t own Harry Potter or any of the characters.





	Scolopendrphobia

“Draco? Draco, wake up! You’re having a nightmare!”

“Harry! Oh, Merlin! That was awful!”

“Shh, love. Don’t cry. It was just a bad dream. You’re here now - you’re safe.”

“I s-saw them, Harry. They were in the dream again.”

“You saw who? The Death Eaters or...?”

“The muggles! The ones... the ones I...”

“Shh, it’s okay...”

“It’s not okay! I killed them! An entire family - dead! All because of me!”

“It wasn’t your fault, Draco. If you would have refused, Voldemort would have killed you and your parents. You know that we wouldn’t have won the war without you. And you also know that those muggles would have been killed by someone else even if you would have refused. Someone who wouldn’t have given them clean, merciful deaths.”

“...”

“Deep breaths, love.”

“...”

“Please don’t cry.”

“I’m a murderer.”

“So am I.”

“It feels so awful.”

“I know.”

“I’m a terrible person.”

“You’re not-“

“Yes, I am! I’m a murderer and an ex-Death Eater! No matter what good I do now, that’s all anybody will see when they look at me! I’m tainted, Harry.”

“Draco...”

“Why would someone as perfect as you want someone as terrible as me?”

“The reason I agreed to be with you in the first place was because I knew you were a good person deep down. You might have been my rival at school, but you’ve matured now and you’re actually a really kind, brave person. You saved my life many times, remember? The war was devastating, but it was what you needed to snap you to your senses.”

“Not soon enough, clearly.”

“...We all did things in the war that we regret. I cast a few spells that I’m not proud of, and they do haunt me, but you have to move past it or they’ll overrun you.”

“It’s all well and good preaching inspirational crap like that but what if I’m not the type of person to just let go? I used so many dark spells, Harry! For Merlin’s sake, you only used Expelliarmus to kill Voldemort! If I was in your shoes I would have Crucio’d the bastard!”

“Innocent spells often do as much damage as dark ones, Draco. Why you cast the spells you do is more important than what it is you cast. What truly matters is if you can learn from your mistakes or not.”

“Learning from my mistakes won’t bring those people back, Harry.”

“Of course it won’t. But the blood is on Voldemort’s hands, not yours. You were just following his orders.”

“That reminds me of those muggles in that horrible war you told me about. Weren’t they just following orders?”

“...”

“...”

“Okay, Draco, you got me there. I have no idea how to respond to that without sounding like a dick.”

“...I am far superior at arguing, after all.”

“Nice to see your humour back.”

“Yeah... I feel a little bit better now. I think I just needed to vent it out.”

“Good.”

“I am still upset, though.”

“Drama queen.”

“...You’ll pay for that.”

“Ow! Don’t hit me!”

“Calm down, it was only a pillow.”

“What did you fill it with? Bricks?”

“No, but I’ll do that next time. Thanks for the idea.”

“Well, at least you’re more like yourself again.”

“Yeah. I’m feeling rather tired after all that blubbering. What’s the time? Tempus. Oh, crap. It’s 3am.”

“We should get some sleep.”

“Indeed, I suppose I should let you rest. You need to wake up bright and early to give me my special wake up call, after all.”

“Do it yourself.”

“That would be one hell of a party trick.”

“...”

“Harry?”

“Mm?”

“Thank you.”

“No worries, love.”

“...”

“...”

“Harry?”

“...”

“Oi? Harry?”

“Ow. Don’t poke me there, I’m still sore from earlier.”

“Sorry. I’ll kiss it better later.”

“Glad to hear it. What do you want?”

“...You said earlier that you cast some spells you’re not proud of... I’m curious - what exactly did you do?”

“...”

“Harry?“

“Fine, fine, I’ll tell you. When I killed Voldemort, I was so relieved it was over. All this pressure, all these expectations... it was finally gone. I was so exhausted after the battle that I had to practically drag myself back inside the castle. Along the way, I tripped over something... it could have been a body, or a rock, I don’t know. I never found out. All I know is that I landed on the ground and was face to face with a terrible, horrific monster that I never wanted to ever see in my life.”

“What did you do?”

“Our of sheer panic, I whipped out my wand and shot the Killing Curse at it. I didn’t even think. Just one quick flash of green and poof - dead.”

“Wow. What kind of monster was it?”

“It was a centipede.”

“Wait, what?”

“I hate centipedes so much. Ugh. I’m surprised they’re not my boggart, but I suppose dementors are slightly worse...”

“Wait - you’re telling me that you refrained from using an Unforgivable on the Dark Lord - fucking Voldemort - but you didn’t even hesitate on killing a bloody centipede?!”

“Draco... have you seen centipedes? They’re hideous! And they produce venom!”

“Bloody hell, Harry! I’m torn up here about all the atrocities I’ve committed and you’re lying here in my arms like ‘Oh, hey! I’m Harry Potter the Insect Murderer, I know how it feels to be a killer, we’re one and the same!’ You arse.”

“I am a killer! Voldemort is dead, remember!”

“Well, yeah, but...”

“And so is that centipede.”

“...”

“Are you okay? I’ve never seen anyone laugh that hard before.”

“I... can’t breathe...”

“Stop! You’re making me laugh now with your contagious weirdness.”

“You killed a bloody centipede...”

“It was scary! If you would have seen it, you would have done the same!”

“No I wouldn’t! I’m not a complete psycho like you!”

“Alright, fair enough.”

“Did anyone see?”

“No, thankfully. It was rather embarrassing.”

“No shit.”

“I felt really bad about it as well. Guiltier than when I’d killed Voldemort.”

“...”

“Don’t look at me like that! I felt sad for the poor thing. It still freaked me out, and I immediately incinerated it’s body, but I was so upset with myself for acting that way.”

“At least you gave it a proper send off.”

“Huh?”

“You cremated it. Did you also give it a eulogy?”

“Don’t laugh, I’m serious! You asked me a few weeks ago why I went vegan. Now you know.”

“...You gave up on eating animals and animal products because you Avada Kedavra’d a centipede.”

“Yes.”

“Okay, just making sure I got all that.”

“I learned a valuable lesson that day. Every action you take influences every life you come into contact with. Always be mindful of what you do and say, because things might leave a lasting impact on someone or something that could cause irreparable damage. Be a good person and treat everyone well. Unless they’re Voldemort. In which case, kill them. That’s the message I want you to learn from my dreadful mistake, Draco.”

“...”

“Wow, I sounded really insightful - I should be a teacher.”

“Yes, well said, Professor Potter.”

“So, Mr. Malfoy, what did you learn from today’s lesson?”

“Erm... if you use the Killing Curse on a centipede, you should become a vegan?”

“Basically, yeah.”

“Good job I like tofu.”


End file.
